Skiers hit Perisher after big dump of snow

By
MICHAELA WHITBOURN

After a slow start to the snow season, skiers and snow-boarders are hitting the slopes in NSW after cold temperatures and rain combined to turn grassy slopes white.

Skiers take to the slopes at Perisher.

After a slow start to the snow season, skiers and snow-boarders are hitting the slopes in NSW after cold temperatures and rain combined to turn grassy slopes white.

About 15 centimetres of snow fell overnight on Saturday at the Perisher Ski Resort as temperatures plunged below zero degrees - and the prime snow-making conditions are expected to continue.

"It's still snowing now which is great," said Richard Phillips, Perisher's sales and marketing manager.

"There'd be a few hundred people out there this morning skiing and boarding on the beginner slopes of Front Valley. It looks like it's going to get cooler on the back of this front so we should get some really good cold air coming through this afternoon and into tonight, which will be fantastic for snow-making over the next 24 to 48 hours as well."

It was a different story a week ago, when there were only patches of snow for the traditional Queen's Birthday long-weekend start to the snow season. Perisher opened part of its resort last weekend, thanks to its snow machine rather than natural snow.

Perisher was the only Australian resort that was open for skiing and boarding on Sunday but Thredbo is not expected to be far behind.

"The colder temperatures and the snow will definitely allow us to open some lifts," said Luke Kneller, Thredbo's media manager.

Weatherzone meteorologist Ben McBurney said it was "probably the best snowfall of the season so far".

"There's no more grass really viewable on the snow cams now for Perisher at least, so that's the good news. But lower down off the peaks at Thredbo, in the village, it's still pretty grassy."